Primer 2003

A virtuoso display of minimalist filmmaking and exceptional thinking, Primer is a perfect example of how budget constraints force filmmakers to concentrate on areas that studio films usually neglect, ie the story and dialogue. Primer is an antidote to dumbed-down cinema. Already being compared favourably to the indie smash π, this ultra-low-fi thriller won gold at the Sundance Film Festival and is being hailed as a milestone in independent filmmaking. Four physicists and programmers gather together at night to brainstorm and tinker on a very unusual secret project. Their contraption could be the next big thing. They know it could make them very rich. They know it could be a substantial breakthrough in science. They just don’t understand exactly what the thing is. When one of the four men discovers that the project actually causes fluctuations in the space-time continuum, Primer takes a dark spin into quantum physics and becomes one of the most devilishly inventive and thought-provoking films in recent memory. — Ant Timpson